By: Russ Sheeler                                                          4/26/2010
 

When Commissioner Rodger Goodell announced that the NFL draft was going to begin primetime on Thursday April 22, 2010, I had serious concerns whether I would find the time to watch the draft over a three-day period.  Then the week began and almost instantaneously I was hooked!  It didn’t start with the quarterback who’s name isn’t worth mentioning news, the 2010 NFL Schedule being release, or the rumored “Ricky Williams” deal the Rams wanted; rather it started rather organically like a tree sprouting from a delicately manicured seedling, cared for with benevolent care.  This year was most definitely different!

Monday came with a multitude of rumors, discussions, and arguments between draft gurus that grew with the ferociousness of wildfire about Tebow’s slotted position.  Even though the Tebow discussion was over produced and over hyped I couldn’t help but begin to feel drawn to ESPN, NFL Network, and the multitude of great mock draft websites like sundaykickoff.com and thefootballhub.com.  I felt like Alan from the Hangover being drawn to inexplicably horrific ideas (with the exception of  gambling being so easy a “ratard” could do it)!  Even with all the negativity “The Shield” received following the word Goodell was to suspend a good quarterback (his name not worth mentioning), I still couldn’t turn off the computer, TV, or radio!  In all this draft talk I almost forgot baseball was almost twenty games in and the NBA and NHL playoffs were in full effect!

Then Tuesday came and we were tantalized with mock draft 4.0s, player stock dropping and rising, and again more Tebow discussion.  The draft started becoming for me, a novice football fan, into one of the few days a young child would be slowly counting down the anticipatory days till Christmas; as if I were in college again, I began studying every teams needs and tried my best imitation of prognostication in developing my own mock drafts with all the due-diligence of an overachieving coed.  Each mock draft was meticulously looked over with lugubrious intent searching for the right player for the right team.  I was hooked!  Oh yeah, did I mention the suspension yet?!

By Wednesday every water cooler discussion at work wasn’t based on the previous nights Lost episode, instead it was centered on whether C. J. Spiller was an everyday back, whether Derrick Morgan can transition to a 3-4 linebacker, and again whether Tim Tebow was tight-end, H-back, or a even a quarterback!  The feeling of anxiousness and anticipation ran rapid through my veins, I could hardly wait until the Thursday to come; I then realized this is what Goodell wanted all along!  A weekend written with the pen of a well-authored drama, he had mastered the essence of his intention without a draw on lottery picks, he gave us drama, anticipation, and suspense!  Again was there any mention of a suspension?

Finally Thursday came and I almost wept uncontrollably!  Finally the beginning of the much-anticipated weekend was among us!  I had several conversations throughout the day on who will go first, who my team would draft, who this team would pick, and of course about how good Tim Tebow would be and what position would he play!  From the time Sam Bradford was drafted as the first pick of the 2010 NFL Draft to Patrick Robinson at 32 I was riveted on the edge of my seat as the drama unfolded.  The point is, what I think the great commissioner wanted was buzz, and buzz he got!  From the surprise picks of Rolondo McClain at 8 to the incorrigible pick of  Tyson Alualu to the Chargers moving up to 14 to snag their replacement to the almost irreplaceable and unheralded running back LT and of course the talk of the weekend: TIM TEBOW being drafted 25 overall to actually be a quarterback!  Thursday was filled with enthralling suspense, almost with the same vigor as an episode of 24.

Bottom line, I thought the move to Thursday was a move with the only intent in driving up revenue and mainstreaming “The Shield”, what I missed out on was the vision of starting on Thursday actually resulted in.  Starting the draft on Thursday and having only the first round seemed to give greater importance to the later rounds.  On Friday, when rounds 2 and 3 took place, I found myself paying far more attention on the happening of both rounds, in contrast to previous years where I would stop watching after the grueling first rounds.  This year I was absolutely on board with just about every pick, watching each draft decision, trade, and Jimmy Clausen/Colt McCoy/Taylor Mays freefall with the utmost of attention.  The same can be said for Saturday (rounds 4-7).  Kudos to Mr. Goodell for creating buzz and delivering a masterpiece of buzz!  Then, more importantly, Sunday was left for church, where I could be at ease knowing the draft was done, my team had their picks, and my worship was uninterrupted with tweets or texts about whether LeGarrette Blount was drafted or not...  Then again undrafted free agency began as of Sunday morning this year and those tweets began to come in anyway! 

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